


The secrets to happiness

by Kytanna



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family Fluff, First Dates, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, POV Thorin, Smitten Thorin, Thorin is a Softie, Uncle Bilbo Baggins, Uncle Thorin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2020-05-16 03:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19309609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kytanna/pseuds/Kytanna
Summary: When Thorin attended Kíli's football match the last thing he expected was to meet a cute stranger with beautiful eyes. But Thorin has been burned far too many times and is not sure if he's ready to take another chance at love.Maybe a misunderstanding will be the solution to his problems.For the Tumblr prompt: "Modern AU, Frodo and Fili and/or Kili play a sport, but for opposite teams. Thorin and Bilbo sit next to each other. The infamous scoling other team/praising their children begins between them, turning into a heated battle who's team/child is better! That until one team scores, and the belonging uncle is so over the moon they grasp the other's head and take them in for a deep kiss ★∪★"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [navyfeather](https://archiveofourown.org/users/navyfeather/gifts).



> I hope you all like this one because it took me blood, sweat and tears to write it, so if you liked it please leave me a comment so I know you enjoyed it.
> 
> A million thanks to birdkeeperklink for helping me with this one. You are the best darling!
> 
> Edit (8/4/2020): Many people asked me to break the story into shorter chapters, to make the reading easier, so I finally did it!

Thorin took a deep breath, he really should have listened to Dwalin’s suggestion of joining him on his Sunday runs. But again who in the hell goes running on a Sunday? 

 

Thorin might have the resistance of an octogenarian but at least he knew that you had to spend the Sundays recharging your batteries for the rest of the week. That must be the reason Dwalin was bald now, the stress and the grumpiness had gotten rid of his hair. 

 

At least Thorin had a nice amount of hair, in fact, his hair was long enough to reach his upper back.

 

Now he was running as fast as he could to pick Fíli up from his school so they could go to Kíli’s football match. Thorin had never been too keen on the sport but it was important for Kíli, and with Dís and Víli away for work it was up to Thorin to be there. 

 

If he could make it on time, that is. 

 

Thorin sprinted, even if his lungs hurt.  The sodding headmaster had forbidden bikes from parking anywhere near the school and now Thorin had to pay for it.

 

If he arrived late it would be his own fault. He had gotten distracted finishing up the wedding ring that was due for the next day and had all but forgotten about the hour. 

 

Thorin breathed in relief when he spotted Fíli running towards him.

 

“We are gonna be late, Uncle! Where were you?!”

 

“Sorry, I lost track of time but I brought my bike.”

 

Thorin snorted when Fíli gasped in delight, it was rarely that he let any of the boys ride with him. Not his decision, it was all Dís, and Thorin respected her too much to break her rules. This was a special time though and if they didn’t take the bike they would arrive late and that was simply not allowed. 

 

It was Kíli’s last match before his graduation and even if he didn’t care much about winning, he had been adamant of wanting Thorin and his brother to be there to watch him play.

 

“Don’t tell your mother.”

 

Fíli laughed naughtily, most likely imagining the kind of trouble they could get into if Dís found out.

 

“Sure.”

 

Thorin tossed him the child-sized helmet and put his own while Fíli fumbled with it. Thorin mounted on the bike and turned the engine on, as soon as Fíli climbed and had a good grip on his waist, Thorin parted. He went as fast as he could without breaking the law or putting his nephew at risk and in less than ten minutes they were there. 

 

Thorin took off his helmet and secured the bike. 

 

“Hurry up! Let’s go,” exclaimed Fíli with his helmet still on.

 

“Take off your helmet, you are going to suffocate with that thing on.”

 

“But I look really cool like this and I wanna show Kíli! I bet he’ll get jealous he didn’t get to ride the bike.”

 

“Today is your brother’s special day, you have other days to make him jealous. Take it off.”

 

“Fine,” Fíli finally agreed with a pout.

 

“Now let’s go! We are not going to find good seats and your back is not going to thank you later,” urged Fíli with his helmet on his hands.

 

“I’m not that old!”

 

“I know that but if we don’t get seats I’m gonna sit on your shoulders until the match ends.”

 

“You can’t make me carry you.”

 

“I have my ways,” said Fíli as mysteriously as a twelve-year-old could.

 

“For fuck's sake. We don’t have time for this,” muttered darkly, Thorin. “Fine, let’s go!”

 

They run once again, Fíli quickly making his way through the crowd. Thorin being six feet and not exactly slender was not so lucky. Nevertheless, he made his way as best as he could, he didn’t want to lose Fíli after all and if he had to elbow and push his way in, it was other people’s fault for being in the way. 

 

They should know by now that standing in the way of others was rude and annoying.

 

“Why are there so many people anyway?!” shouted Thorin when they finally reached the field and headed for the chairs and benches that had been facilitated by the school.

 

“Kíli said that today there’s a lot of activities and stuff!” answered Fíli just as loud.

 

“They couldn't schedule it for a different day?”

 

“Dunno, I guess they messed up. This school has never been good with organization. Remember when I graduated?”

 

Thorin grunted. That had been a mess all right. From the flying cake to the fainting headmaster. If it wasn’t for the good teachers it had, they wouldn’t have enrolled Kíli in there.

 

“There!” Fíli signalled two free spots that had a perfect view of the field. 

 

Fíli rushed there and bodily threw himself when a lady seemed to want the seats for herself, luckily that had been enough to deter the lady from taking them but unfortunately, that also meant that Fíli had ended up crashing against the man that would be sitting next to them. 

 

Thorin jogged to them as he watched how the stranger helped Fíli get up. He was about to apologize for his nephew’s behaviour when the man turned and Thorin was left frozen on the spot.

 

The man was a good feet shorter than him, head full of messy curls of indecipherable colour as they seem to change with the light. The same thing could be said about his eyes, was Thorin’s absent thought. For a moment they looked green and the next they appeared to be blue. 

 

Thorin had no idea why the man had caused such an impact on him. Objectively he was not that special. He was short and not particularly fit, his nose was too round and his ears were strangely pointy. He was wearing a grandpa jumper in mid-July for fuck's sake! 

 

And yet, Thorin couldn't help finding him bizarrely alluring.

 

“Uncle I got seats!” 

 

Thorin blinked, waking up from his daze. He eyed the curly haired man with distrust. The last time he had behaved that way around someone had been when he was thirteen and the pretty daughter of their neighbours had smiled at him.

 

Now he was a thirty-seven-year-old man and he shouldn't be gaping at pretty and alluring people like a creep.

 

He scowled when he saw the man look at him with his eyes open wide like saucer pans. He looked like a scared rabbit about to be eaten by a wolf and the twitch on his nose didn’t help dissuade Thorin from that vision.

 

Thorin knew his appearance was quite intimidating, plenty of people had told him so, Dís being the most insistent one. 

 

He had tattoos around his arms and back. Piercings, one on his eyebrow and tree on the top part of his ears.

 His hair was long and he had been convinced by his nephews—a few years ago—to get an undercut, one that Thorin had grown very attached to, so he had kept it ever since. 

 

He knew all of that was not very welcoming and on top of that, he had inherited his grandfather's stoic face that Frerin loved to refer as ‘resting bitch face.’ 

 

So yes, he knew how he looked and how that could have scared the man. That didn't mean he liked it.

 

“Sorry about my nephew, he’s a rascal.” Thorin said with sending a cautious look at the man.

 

“Hey!”

 

“Oh, Oh! No, it’s okay. If I hadn’t arrived early I would have done the same. These seats are quite good. Besides, he has saved me from having to listen to Karen complain about how her marigolds hate her,” said the man with an amicable smile.

 

Thorin looked at him in confusion.

 

“Oh, you see, she believes they are out to get her.” He explained.

 

The man laughed awkwardly when Thorin didn’t say anything.

 

“What a weird lady.” Said Fíli, saving them both from the awkwardness, from where he had already taken a seat.

 

“Yes, you have no idea. Her husband is not b-” 

 

“Thorin.” 

 

Thorin closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. 

 

He wanted to stab himself.

 

He could feel his face heating beneath his beard and tried—rather uselessly—to will it to stop. 

 

What was wrong with him? What kind of daft idiot interrupted someone like that!

 

“I beg your pardon?”

 

“Thorin, my name. I’m Thorin.” 

 

“Oh. Oh! Nice to meet you, I’m Bilbo.” Said  _ Bilbo _ —nice enough to not point out how useless was Thorin when it came to socializing—with a slight wave of his hand.

 

“I’m Fíli and Thorin is my uncle, we’re here to watch my brother play. Who have you come to watch?” Asked rather excitedly Fíli, saving Thorin from another possible awkward silence.

 

Damn it! Why did some stranger have to disrupt his day? Thorin had already decided he wasn't doing this anymore.

 

“Really? I’m here for my nephew as well. The school’s organization is not very good though, I honestly expected better.” 

 

Bilbo had sat again and with Fíli on the other seat, Thorin was left to sit between them. 

 

By Bilbo’s side.

 

For some reason, Thorin had felt relieved to hear that he was not there for a son or anything or the likes. That didn’t take out the chance of him being married—he stole a quick look at his ringless finger and decided that still didn’t rule out him not having someone. Plenty of people ditched the ring tradition and he could easily have a lover or a significant other either way.

 

Thorin frowned, why was he even questioning that. It wasn’t like he was going to ask the curly haired man on a date or make a move on him. Thorin wasn’t interested, they had just met!

 

And even if he was—not that he was—what guarantee did he have that Bilbo would be interested? The man could be straight or even aro for all he knew, and Thorin didn’t know much at all apart from his name and that he had a nephew. 

 

After his rude and bumbling introduction, Bilbo surely thought him stupid and uncouth.

 

Not that he could blame him. Thorin fell, in fact, a bit like that.

 

“At least the uniforms are not so bad and the mascot is quite cute. Unlike the opposite team.” Said Bilbo pulling him from his negative musings.

 

Thorin looked at the mascot of the other team and thought that Bilbo was very right. The thing looked quite ugly, he wasn’t sure if it was bear or a giant rat. While on the other hand, Kíli’s school mascot was a proud raven, very majestic if you asked Thorin. 

 

“That thing is hideous.” Said Thorin with a frown.

 

“Looks like it could eat you alive.” Said Fíli glaring at the ugly mascot. 

 

Both of the animals had gathered and they seemed to be waiting for the match to start.

 

“At least the coach is good,” Thorin said, looking at Mr Fell.

 

He heaved a relieved sigh, he was finally making casual and normal conversation.

 

“Oh yes, he’s quite sweet. I have heard that the other coach is terribly mean to the children. Poor things.”

 

Thorin eyed the old man that was the coach of the other team and raised an eyebrow in wonder. 

 

He looked like he had smoked a few pots and eaten a good bunch of suspicious-looking mushrooms but seemed unable to harm even a fly. 

 

But looks are deceiving—Thorin would know that—he and Dwalin were living proof of it. Many times they had been mistaken for thugs or worse.

 

And yes, perhaps wearing leather jackets and riding motorbikes with their resting bitch faces didn’t help, but that was hardly the point here.

 

The children came out and all of a sudden everyone was clapping and shouting to get their respective children’s attention. Bilbo included. 

 

“Frodo! Darling, good luck! I know you can do it!”

 

Thorin tried to spot and get a look of the child that Bilbo was waving at but with the number of people that were doing the same, he failed at it.

Typically Thorin would have found it annoying, all the shouting and whatnot, and he did. 

 

But not from Bilbo, maybe it was the way he smiled or the way his eyes and hair shined with the light of the sun. Whatever reason it might have been, Thorin felt himself smile a little at such boisterous display.

 

He turned his head when he felt a bony elbow dig into his ribs. 

 

“Look!” Said Fíli, pointing at his brother. It seemed Kíli had spotted them and was trying to catch Thorin’s attention.

 

Thorin waved and shouted a ‘good luck’ to the boy, much quieter and calmer than Bilbo.

 

Kíli looked excited and was happily chatting with a younger boy from the other team.

 

A few minutes later everyone had calmed down and the horde of people, that had been at the entrance when they arrived, had probably left to see their own children in their own activities. 

 

Now the only that could be heard was the soft chatter of the spectators and the children getting ready to start the game.

 

And soon enough it started, Thorin who had never been a big fan of the sport and—to be frank, didn’t know the rules that well—only watched as Kíli run from one place to another.

 

Fíli was alternated between playing, texting lord-knows-who on his phone and watching his brother.

 

Bilbo, on the other hand, was greedily watching every movement the kids made, his eyes sweeping from one side of the court to the other.

 

After a few seconds he huffed and looked into his little and, quite frankly, ugly backpack—the thing was a weird mix between orange, fuchsia and neon yellow. It pretty much looked like it had been painted with unicorn vomit—and pulled a football manual.

 

He must have felt Thorin staring at him because he turned and his face flushed red when he noticed Thorin glancing the book.

 

“I- I've never been a big fan of football. The players are way overpaid, I think. And then it’s not really that fun to simply watch a game on the telly, right? But then Frodo joined the team and I’ve tried my best to learn about the game but I must admit I still struggle quite a bit. So you see, it’s not that I-”

 

“I hate football too.” Thorin smiled, cutting Bilbo’s rumbling. 

 

As much as he has liked it and as charming as he looked while doing that, Bilbo’s face was now crimson red and his nose had been twitching for a while—with what Thorin now knew was nervousness.

 

“Oh.” Bilbo blinked a few times, as if was unsure Thorin had truly said that. “You do?” Asked dubiously.

 

“Aye, and I really don’t understand how it works either.”

 

Bilbo gasped a wide smile spreading through his face. Thorin wasn’t sure what it had caused it but it suited him, it made him look younger and livelier if that was possible. 

 

“You're Scottish! I hadn’t noticed because you hardly have an accent, but just now it came through a little bit.” 

 

By now Bilbo had turned to the left to fully face him and Thorin had angled his body towards him, without realizing.

 

The comment surprised Thorin, not many people were able to guess his origins.

 

Bilbo must have noticed his confusion because he proceeded to explain himself. “My grandfather was Scottish and I spent a great deal of time with him when I was young. That’s why I noticed.” 

 

“My mother is English, from Hampshire. We moved to England when I was ten, that’s why I don’t really have much of an accent anymore.” Said Thorin.

 

“That must have been hard. When you are ten things appear to be more terrible than they actually are.” 

 

Thorin laughed at Bilbo’s comment. 

 

“I would know that. My nephew, the one that’s playing”, Thorin motioned the court with an absentminded wave, “is going through a very dramatic phase. The other day we run out of flour to make pancakes and he asked me what was the point in living anymore if he couldn't eat all the pancakes.”  

 

Bilbo laughed and Thorin smiled at the memory of Kíli screaming like a Shakespearean character at the injustice of not having pancakes for breakfast.

 

It has been a while since Thorin had felt this at ease when chatting with someone. Lately, work had been chaotic and busy, leaving him with too little time to socialize and there was also his immediate family that—as of late—the only thing that talked about with him was if he had finally met a nice lad or lass to be with and when was he going to bring anyone home.

 

It was honestly tiring and while Thorin would like to have someone to arrive home and to rely on, it was not that easy. 

 

Opening up was not his forte and most of the time his possible partners grew tired of waiting and Thorin was left alone once again. 

 

So what if the last two or three years he had not gone on a single date because he had gotten tired and sour of the disappointment that all his attempts brought. 

 

He knew that being single at thirty-seven was sad and Thorin didn’t need any reminder of that, as good-intentioned as it was.

 

So that’s why Thorin tried to keep up the chatter. He wanted to know more about Bilbo and he wanted to have fun for once in a while. Even if it didn't lead to anything else.

 

“How old is your nephew?”

 

“He’s nine and a half so I have a pretty good idea about what you’re talking about. Every time it’s time for bed he acts like it’s the end of the world. At 

least his ‘I’m-a-cat-so-I-do-not-need-baths’ phase is over.”

 

“Mine were the same. It seems that most children go through the same things.”

 

“What about you? Do you have any of your own?” Asked Bilbo, pushing away a stray curl that had fallen into his forehead. 

 

Thorin got lost into the motion and barely heard what he had been asked.

 

“Thorin?”

 

“Sorry, what?”

 

Bilbo laughed at him without any malice. Thorin liked his laugh a lot. It suited him, it was a subtle laugh but strong enough to make other people look and smile as if they couldn’t help themselves.

 

“I asked if you have any children of your own.” Repeated Bilbo, with mirth painted in his whole face.

 

“No, just my nephews and honestly that’s enough. At least for now.”

 

“Uncle is also single.” It looked like Fíli hadn’t been as distracted as Thorin had though. “Very single.” Added with a grave look on his young face.

 

He turned sharply to glare at his nephew that had quickly turned to take pictures of a blob that looked a lot like Kíli.

 

Little shit, he was going to pay for that one.

 

Thorin turned back to Bilbo and he was looking slightly like a deer caught in the headlights.

 

“O-Oh!” Thorin must have made some kind of weird expression with his face because Bilbo raised his hands in a placating manner. 

 

“There’s nothing wrong with that though. I’m single myself and I’m sure that anyone you like would like you back. I mean, you are very- And you look quite- Oh dear...” Bilbo’s face had progressively gotten redder and redder as he spoke and now his face looked like Rudolph’s red and shiny nose. 

 

Thorin found it quite charming.

 

“I should shut up.” Said Bilbo, looking at the ground while he rubbed his hands together nervously.

 

Thorin let out a soft chuckle, the man was truly charming.

 

“It might not be bad but being single at thirty-seven is not the most common thing.”

 

That made Bilbo meet his gaze again. “Really? You don’t look an age older than thirty.”

 

Thorin smiled, it was always nice to be told he was ageing well. “I could say the same about you.”

 

“Oh my! Thank you, I’m actually thirty-five.” Bilbo said with a delighted smile. 

 

At least Thorin hoped that what it was, he couldn't be sure though, he had never been too good at reading other people. 

 

The sound of people clapping and cheering stopped Thorin from saying anything else. It looked like someone had scored a goal or something.

 

He should focus on the match.

 

“We should focus on the match.” Bilbo voiced his thoughts. “Frodo will surely ask me about what I liked best and I doubt your nephew would be any different.” He added pursing his lips.

 

“Aye, he knows I'm not a big fan of football so I expect a full interrogatory after the match.”  Said Thorin with a snort. "This is all my sister's fault.” Muttered under his breath.

 

“Oh? How so?”

 

“She and her husband are archaeologists so they have to travel a lot for work and when that happens the boys stay with me.”

 

“It must be hard. For all of you.” Said Bilbo tilting his head.

 

“Hm, sometimes, but I love these kids as if they were my own so I enjoy taking care of them.”

 

“Uncle Thorin loves taking care of people.”

 

“Oh really?” Said Bilbo with a slight smile while he twisted his head to look at Fíli.

 

“Yeah, I know he doesn’t look like it but uncle is actually super sweet. One time he even let little Erla—that's my cousin, by the way—braid his hair with flowers and paint his nails pink.”

 

“Oh.” 

 

Thorin felt his whole body heat, he knew his face must have looked like it had been set on fire, he stole a glance at Bilbo and discovered that the curly haired man hadn’t taken his eyes from him and was currently grinning at Thorin.

 

Thorin tried to smile at best as he could but it probably came out as a grimace.

 

“Anyway, you should watch the match, there are some pretty bad players and Kíli is going to tell you about them for sure.”

 

“Really? How do you know they are not very good?” Asked Bilbo, in a concerned tone.

 

“Hmm, pretty easy actually. If they can’t catch the ball or they don’t pass it well they are not very good and if they score to their own team they are terrible.”

 

Thorin hummed as he scanned the court to see if he could spot the 'bad players', though they already played much better than Thorin.

 

“That tiny boy seems one of the not very good players.” Said Thorin, after watching a small boy fumble with the ball.

 

“Oh? Which one?” Asked Bilbo, bringing his face close to Thorin’s to have the same view. 

 

“That one.” Thorin pointed to the boy with dark curls and very blue eyes that were quite visible from where they were sitting. 

 

He took a deep breath as Bilbo’s smell brushed his nose. He smelt like honey, paper and a tinge of what Thorin thought to be cinnamon.

 

An outraged gasp stopped him from turning his head and burying his nose in Bilbo’s fluffy curls.

 

“Excuse me, that's my nephew!”

 

Oh.

 

Shit. 

 

Of course Thorin had to go and point his nephew.

 

That was just his luck...

 


	2. Chapter 2

“I- Wha-” Thorin tired to say, not really sure what, but anything was better than keeping his mouth shut.

 

“The one you pretty much called ‘ _useless_ ’ is my nephew.” Bilbo huffed, clearly angry and outraged, and still not a word left Thorin’s mouth. 

 

“Why did I even think you were sweet and charming. You are clearly rude and an uncouth brute.” Said, crossing his arms with an upset frown.

 

“Oh my god.” Thorin vaguely heard Fíli whisper. 

 

Perhaps he did feel bad about insulting Bilbo’s nephew and he might have thought the same things about himself half an hour ago but that didn’t mean he was about to let a stranger—as gorgeous and funny as he was—to insult him.

 

“Well, it’s not my fault your nephew doesn’t know how to play. Besides, I thought your nephew was playing with the Ravens, not the other team. That actually explains many things.” Scoffed Thorin. 

 

He really didn’t want to fight with Bilbo but the treacherous words that had before refused to leave his mouth seemed to spill now without his consent.

 

“What? Your nephew goes to this mess of a school?” Bilbo paused for a moment. “Wait. Does that mean you were praising that hideous and nightmarish bird?”

 

“You can’t seriously tell me that that monster that looks like the Yeti is ‘cute’.” Said Thorin raising on his feet as he signalled the other’s team ugly mascot.

 

“That’s a porcupine, you idiot!” Bilbo had stood up as well and was looking at Thorin, face contorted in fury.

 

“You call me idiot?! Your coach looks like a halfwit!” Thorin had to bend down quite a bit to be able to scream at Bilbo’s face level, but at this point, he was willing to kneel just to get his point across the dull brain of the curly haired man.

 

“Shut up! You don’t know anything!”

 

Bilbo looked at the verge of punching him, and quite honestly Thorin wouldn’t blame him, he was just as angry and he had no idea why. He was not one to lose patience that easily. 

 

It seemed that all his feeling maximized when it concerned Bilbo.

 

“Please sirs if you don’t calm down I will have to remove you from the vicinity.” 

 

Both of them looked at the security guard in surprise. Thorin hadn’t even felt him arrive, neither he had noticed the people around them looking at them as if they were the main attraction.

 

Thorin frowned, ready to scream at them to mind their own bloody business.

 

The guard cleared his throat, and Thorin directed his glare to him.

 

Of course Bilbo would have other ideas. 

 

“I’m truly sorry, I will calm down, I can’t talk for this man though. He’s a savage.” He said with chin up and looking at Thorin in disapproval as if he was misbehaving child, or worse, a brute caveman.

 

Thorin looked in outraged astonishment at Bilbo.

 

What in the-

 

Thorin was about to lash out again when the guard interrupted him—he had looked at Bilbo strangely as well, probably wondering which one of the kids was unfortunate enough to be related to Bilbo. 

 

Probably.

 

“Sir?”

 

Thorin looked at him and took a deep breath.

 

“Yeah, I’ll calm down as well...Sorry.” Finally said Thorin after a while, with a grunt.

 

The guard sniffed. “Very well then. I’ll trust your word, but if it happens again I won’t be so lenient.”

 

When neither Thorin or Bilbo said anything to him—bollocks, Bilbo wasn’t even looking at them. He had pulled out again his stupid football manual and was reading it while he pretended they didn’t exist—the guard scoffed but in the end, he left them be and went on his way.

 

“Oh my god, I’m so gonna tell mum, dad and Kee about it!” Said Fíli with a giggle. 

 

Of course Fíli would be having the time of his life.

 

“I’ll buy ice cream and we’ll go to the bookstore to check out new books if you don’t tell anyone anything.”

 

Fíli gasped. “Really?! Wait. Not even Kee?” Now Fíli was giving him the puppy eyes. 

 

Thorin tried to remain stoic but knew perfectly well that keeping things from each other was not something his nephews did. It was, in fact, one of the things Thorin loved the most about their relationship.

 

“Fine, you can tell your brother but you have to make sure he keeps his mouth shut.” Thorin already knew it was useless, Kíli would tattle sooner or later but Thorin hoped he would hold for a few days at least.

 

“Deal!”

 

“Good.” Thorin ruffled the boy’s golden hair. He had recently gotten a new haircut and had decided he liked Thorin’s style so he had gotten an undercut and was trying to grow out the top part of his hair. Thorin doubted it would last but it was flattering all the same.

 

After that, they all sat down quietly and paid attention to the game. He wasn’t sure what the score was at this point but he thought The Ravens were winning. 

 

Kíli was smiling a lot so that should be a good sign, right?

 

After a good while, he felt Fíli drawing near him until he was practically sitting in Thorin lap. Thorin looked at him and raised his brow in question.

 

“Bilbo seemed really nice,” Fíli whispered.

 

“Aye, until he wasn’t,” Thorin grumbled. Perhaps he was still angry, but everything had happened so fast that now Thorin felt wrong-footed and unsure about what he should do.

 

Now that he had cooled down a little it felt like he had witnessed—and maybe provoked—a car crash and had been unable to do stop it.

 

“You can’t really blame him, can you? You insulted his nephew after all. And wrongly, on top of that...” The last part had been said so quietly Thorin almost thought he had imagined it.

 

“Wrongly? What do you mean.”

 

Fíli looked at him incredulously. “You don’t really believe that kid is a bad player right? I know you just wanted to keep talking to mister Bilbo because it seemed like you both were having loads of fun, but- ”

 

“He’s not?” Thorin asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

 

He was really confused now. The boy looked like he was fumbling with the ball. He even stepped on top of it for a moment! Thorin had been sure he was going to fall down.

 

“Holy shit! You have no idea...”

 

Thorin felt his stomach drop. He even forgot to call out Fíli for his bad language. 

 

“What?”

 

“That boy- Frodo was it? Well, he’s really good uncle. He was doing the Okocha Turn! Not even Kíli knows how to do that and you know he’s the best in his team.”

 

“The Oko-what?” Thorin had no idea what Fíli was talking about but if he had understood anything, it was that he had cocked it up.

 

Shite…

 

“The Okocha Turn. It’s a football trick, it’s used to make your opponents think you are going to take the ball one way but then you turn it with your foot the other way.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Thorin felt shame wash over him, he hated feeling that way. He knew he should have just shut his mouth. It was always him saying something stupid or not saying enough that managed to mess things up. 

 

“Yeah,” Fíli said, eyeing him with pity.

 

Thorin remained in silence for a long while, mulling things over and trying to figure out how it had all gotten out of hand that quickly.

 

It had all clearly been a misunderstanding. One that had ended up exploding in both their faces. 

 

Thorin had put his foot inside his mouth once again...

 

He stole another quick look at Bilbo, the seats were not that far off—or that big, for that matter—so he could faintly feel Bilbo’s warmth. He returned his head to the match as fast as he could when he felt Bilbo was about to look in his direction.

 

Thorin couldn’t understand why it bothered him that much. Bilbo was just a stranger after all, and yet…

 

He couldn’t let things stay that way, Thorin had never been the type of person who refused to admit his mistakes and he wasn’t about to start just then.

 

The sharp sound of a whistle was heard all around the court. Thorin looked around and saw that everyone was greedily watching the game as if that whistle had signalled something of utter importance that Thorin was unaware of.

 

“What does it mean?” Asked Thorin, from the corner of his eye he could see Bilbo eyeing them. He had been the only who had looked as confused as Thorin.

 

“Frodo’s team has just scored another point so now they are tied at three to three and there are only two minutes until the match ends.”

 

Thorin heard Bilbo’s gasp, he most likely—just as Thorin—hadn’t even noticed that the game was about to end. 

 

Thorin centred his full attention, for once in the whole evening, on the game—and wasn’t that shameful.

 

He could spot Kíli and the boy—Frodo, his mind supplied— battling for the ball. 

 

“One minute.” Said Fíli, helpfully.

 

Thorin gripped the armrests of his seat, his body angled towards the court when Kíli took the ball, running as fast as his small legs could take him.

 

He was so sure Kíli was going to score that when a tall girl, from the opposite team, took the ball from him Thorin couldn’t help the loud ‘Fuck!’ that left his mouth.

 

The ball had found his way again to Frodo, he heard a faint gasp coming from his side and his mind vaguely registered that it must have come from Bilbo.

 

“Thirty seconds.” Said Fíli, just as tense as Thorin felt.

 

Suddenly all the breath Thorin had on his lungs left his body because Bilbo, curly-haired stranger that had taken Thorin’s breath away when they met, was gripping his hand. 

 

He might have not even realized what he was doing since he hadn’t even looked at Thorin once, but he clearly needed some support and honestly, Thorin wasn’t so different.

 

If this was what football fans felt when watching their teams play Thorin could understand why they found it so addictive.

 

He gripped Bilbo’s hand just as hard and started rubbing circles on the back of his hand when Bilbo gasped again as Frodo mercilessly made his way to the goal post.

 

“Three...Two...One...” 

 

“YES!” Bilbo screamed as Frodo scored in the last second. “OH MY GOD! YES!” 

 

As the whistle—marking the end of the match—sounded everyone had gotten up, a few cheering just as hard as Bilbo and other simply clapping politely.

 

Bilbo had pulled him along when he had gotten up and, before Thorin could even open his mouth, Bilbo had hugged him and proceeded to slam a chaste kiss on his lips, but as soon as he had done it Bilbo had let go of him as if Thorin had caught fire. 

 

And with the way he could feel his whole body burning up Thorin wouldn't be all that surprised.

 

What a picture he must be making. His whole face flaming red and eyes wide as saucers.

 

Bilbo was not that different though, he was redder than a tomato and even his hair looked slightly reddish. 

 

Copper blond, Thorin's mind supplied, still in a daze. That was Bilbo's hair colour.

 

He had covered his mouth with his small hands— and weren’t those pretty hands— and had his brows furrowed in anguish.

 

“Oh, dear me! I’m so terribly sorry Thorin. I don’t know what came over me. How inappropriate! To force a kiss on someone...”

 

Bilbo seemed filled with guilt and not at all what Thorin had expected their first kiss, not that he had thought about them kissing or that slap of lips was actually a kiss—he had gotten better kisses from Dwalin’s dogs— but still…

 

“Bilbo. Bilbo. Bilbo!” Thorin had to shout for Bilbo to finally look at him in the eye.

 

“Hey, calm down. It’s okay. I should be the one apologizing.” Said Thorin in a calmer and softer tone, while he put a hand on Bilbo’s arm. 

 

“What?” 

 

“For insulting Frodo. It was actually a misunderstanding, I’m useless when it comes to football but that doesn’t excuse my screaming at you afterwards.” Thorin rubbed the back of his neck uselessly “So I’m really sorry about what I said about your nephew and about what I said afterwards.” 

 

Thorin decided to take a chance, this time it seemed worth it, so after taking a deep breath he looked straight into Bilbo’s ever-changing-colour eyes and said, “besides, I didn’t mind at all the kiss. Even if it was one of the worst I have ever had.” He made sure to smile, to make sure Bilbo knew it was all jest.

 

“Oh.” Bilbo blinked a few times and then laughed his face still flushing with the remnants of a lovely blush.

 

“I must admit that after I calmed down I also realized it must have all been a misunderstanding. When Frodo showed me that trick for the first time I thought he was really bad too.” Bilbo giggled in embarrassment. “But I was feeling petty because I had liked you a lot and after the game, I was thinking that if Frodo won I would ask you on a date. But then you said what you said and it felt like a slap in the face from the universe, you know?” Bilbo grimaced while Thorin had frozen completely when he had mentioned the part about liking him.

 

“So...Sorry about ignoring you and insulting you in front of the guard.”

 

“You were going to ask me out?” Managed to croak Thorin at last.

 

“I-” Bilbo took a deep breath while Thorin anxiously waited. “Yes, I-” Bilbo sighed while he rubbed his arm. “It’s been such a long time since I have connected with someone the way I did with you and I just thought that perhaps, just perhaps, I could have a chance with you.”

 

“Yes.” 

 

“What?”

 

“I said yes. I would love to go out with you sometime.” Thorin said. 

 

He couldn't waste his chance. Who knows if he would ever get to see Bilbo again, and even if things didn’t work out Thorin was willing to risk it. Just this one last time.

 

“Oh. O-Oh!” 

 

“I have tried too many times this dating-someone-thing and ended up disappointed and heartbroken every time but even if nothing comes out of it, I would like to try.”

 

“Yes!” A few people turned at his shout making Bilbo blush. “Yes, I’d like that very much.” Said again, this time much more subdued.

 

“What about next Saturday?” Intevenied Fíli. “Mom and dad will be back by Friday and you have that Saturday off so you could go for breakfast. I just checked and that day the weather is gonna be great.” Fíli weaved his phone on their faces. He looked even more excited at the prospect of Thorin getting a date than the ones involved.

 

Bilbo and he met gazes. “I suppose we could.” Said Bilbo, tentatively as if he wanted to check if Thorin was on board as well.

 

“I suppose so.” Said Thorin. 

 

“At ten? In the little cafe that is in the main avenue?” Suggested Bilbo.

 

There was only one ‘little cafe’ in the main avenue so Thorin thought he knew which one Bilbo was talking about.

 

“The one with the polar bear sign?” Asked Thorin, wanting to make sure nevertheless.

 

“Yes, that one!” Answered Bilbo, with his finger pointed at Thorin.

 

“Great! You can thank me later. Now we should go with Kíli and Frodo or they’ll think you didn’t come or just fell asleep.” Fíli urged them, already running towards his brother that despite having lost had a huge smile on his face. 

 

Thorin and Bilbo shared one last smile before leaving to catch up with Fíli.

 

In the myriad of people—and why there were so many people, the school wasn’t even that big—they spotted Fíli hugging Kíli and just to Thorin’s surprise behind them was also little Frodo. 

 

Now that he could see his face more clearly Thorin realized that Frodo was the boy Kíli had been chatting with before the match had started.

 

“Frodo! Darling, congratulations!” Thorin saw as Bilbo and the boy hugged. 

 

Now that they were together Thorin could spot a few similarities, like their curly hair and button-like nose.

 

He turned around when he felt the impact of a small body hit him in the back. 

 

“Uncle! You came!” Said Kíli, giving him a toothy smile. 

 

His right front milk teeth had fallen just the week before so it was still funny to see him smile, not that he would tell Kíli that, but it was funny all the same.

 

Kíli’s teeth had always taken a long time to fall. While Fíli had lost his front teeth at seven, Kíli had just begun losing them the year before, the left one was just about to fall as well and Kíli had told them he hoped someone would hit him in the face with the ball so it would just fall off.

 

They had managed to discourage him but that very morning, before the match, Kíli had still been hoping to get hit.

“So no balls or kicks in the face?” 

 

“Nope,” Said Kíli, with a pout. “But I made a friend.” Added, instantly cheering up.

Kíli began pulling him towards Frodo and Bilbo without waiting for an answer.

 

“Frodo! Here’s my uncle. The one I told you about.”

 

“You told him about me?” Asked Thorin curiously.

 

“Course. Frodo goes to a jewellery class once a week.”

 

“Oh, I see,” Thorin said, eyeing the boy. He looked slightly timid but seemed like a genuinely good kid. 

 

Thorin felt even worse for having bad-mouthed him, even if it was unintentionally.

 

“Hi, mister Thorin. Kíli has told me a lot about you. I’m Frodo, Frodo Baggins.”  Said the curly haired boy politely with a hand raised, ready for Thorin to shake it.

 

Thorin couldn’t contain the faint smile that plastered on his face. The child was adorable.

 

Thorin took the tiny hand, careful to not hurt the boy—but he shouldn't have worried because Frodo squeezed his hand with a strength Thorin would have never expected from a child his size—and shook it a couple of times.

 

“Nice to meet you Frodo.” Thorin bent down to whisper in Frodo’s ear but talked loud enough for his nephews and Bilbo to hear. “ You know, it would be nice if your good manners could stick to the little monkeys that are my nephews.” 

 

“Hey!” Complained Fíli and Kíli while Frodo and Bilbo laughed.

 

“Do you think if I rub you against them it will stick?” Asked Thorin, faking to be in deep thought.

 

“Maybe.” Responded Frodo, giggling like mad.

 

“We can be polite as well. You will see.” Threatened Kíli pointing his finger at him.

 

He pulled his brother along and they began whispering to each other while looking at them from time to time. After a few seconds, they nodded and headed in Bilbo’s direction, who had been watching everything with an amused smile.

 

They stopped just a few inches away from him with their shoulders squared, heads held high and big smiles painted on their faces.

 

“Fíli!” Said Fíli with a nod of his head.

 

“And Kíli!” Said Kíli, nodding as well.

 

“At your service!” Said both of them like one, bowing to Bilbo.

 

Bilbo merrily laughed at their antics—Thorin and Frodo doing the same—before he recovered.

 

“Bilbo Baggins, at yours.” Responded Bilbo, bowing to them as well with a grin on his face.

 

To say that Thorin’s heart melted at that moment would be an understatement. It was there, in that very moment when he knew that Bilbo was worth the risk. 

 

“See? I told you you would like Mister Baggin. He’s really nice and he’s not afraid to scream at uncle.” Said Fíli to his brother.

 

“What?” Asked Kíli and Frodo at once, frowning confused, while Bilbo’s cheeks flushed.

 

“I’ll tell you both later. But most importantly. They’re going on a date next week!”

 

Frodo gasped, looking at Thorin, squinting his eyes, and for a minute he felt like the boy was measuring if he was good enough for his uncle so when Frodo finally smiled at him Thorin heaved a relieved sigh.

 

Kíli didn't appear to have the same worries, perhaps it was because Fíli had already approved of Bilbo but whatever was the reason he was jumping up and down while he chanted “Yes! Yes! Yes!” all the while.

 

It was quite embarrassing, and it appeared to be the same for Bilbo because he had a mortified expression on his face. Though he still smiled at Thorin when noticed him looking.

 

They were, no doubt, going to be the talk of the parents. Thorin hadn’t missed all the eyes that were on them since the moment Bilbo smooched him. 

 

But he didn’t care, he was excited and the next Saturday he was going to go on a date with a gorgeous and sweet man. 

 

Next Saturday was surely going to be great.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Next Saturday was not going great...   


 

He and Bilbo had exchanged numbers and had been talking frequently ever since. 

 

Thorin had the opportunity to learn more about him and truth be told, the more he learnt about Bilbo the more he liked him.

 

It turned out they had similar tastes in music—but again only fools didn’t like QUEEN—, a fondness for sweet food and Bilbo even shared Thorin’s liking for skiing, one of the few sports Thorin liked and did.

 

Bilbo had confessed to him his love for ice-related sports and he had even hinted that when winter arrived he could take Thorin and the boys to ice skate, something neither Thorin nor his nephews had tried before. 

 

Thorin really hoped their date would go well, he knew he shouldn’t be harbouring such high hopes for a first date, but he couldn’t help it. This was the first person he had been interested in that had so much in common with Thorin and yet was so intrinsically different in ways that Thorin couldn’t help but like.

 

For example, the fact that Bilbo refused to drink any coffee but still had recommended Thorin a really good brand of Jamaican coffee beans that one of his friends drank—when Thorin had mentioned him he loved coffee—was very considerate.

 

Bilbo had had a blast laughing at him from saying that green peas where the veggies of the devil. Thorin still couldn’t see what was so funny, those things exploded in your mouth like bombs when you bit into them, same thing as the baby tomatoes—Thorin suspected they had another name but couldn't remember what it was—those red bombs were just as evil as the peas.

 

Bilbo had thankfully drawn the line at cauliflower and bemoaned the fact that Frodo loved it. Thorin knew the boy was too good to be true, every cloud has a silver lining after all, so of course, he would love something as wacky as cauliflower.

The week had passed like that, with them exchanging messages at every minute, the first two days had been slightly awkward but after Thorin had complained to Bilbo about a customer, everything had gone smoothly and soon enough they were talking about anything and everything.

 

Bilbo had found out that Thorin was a jeweller and had his own little business. He knew that Bilbo worked from home but for some reason what was exactly what he did had never come out in their frequents chats. 

 

The days had gone by rather quickly but at the same time not quickly enough. Of course, someone would notice Thorin’s distracted state sooner or later. The boys had kept their word and had told no one, not that they could tell many people, their parents had to delay their trip but had assured Thorin that they would be back by next Friday. Thorin truly hoped so.

 

And sure enough, five days after meeting Bilbo and with two remaining until their date, Dwalin had approached him, cornering Thorin on his workshop and asking him to spill the guts.

 

Thorin had known Dwalin since they were toddlers and the man was his best friend and the one he trusted the most besides his siblings. That’s why when he came asking Thorin told him what had happened. He knew Dwalin’s stubbornness sometimes surpassed his own and didn’t truly felt like dealing with it. So he told him—he might have tried to omit what Bilbo truly made him feel but as previously stated he had known Dwalin since forever and knew his darkest secrets and that connection went, sadly, in both directions so Dwalin knew him just as well and was able to see how he really felt even before Thorin even finished talking.

 

“So you fancy him, at least enough to try for a date.” Dwalin had said.

 

“Aye, I think so.” Thorin had admitted quietly.

 

“Just give me a call if he breaks your heart. I will send my boys after him.”

 

“Your boys wouldn't be able to hurt a fly. They are the sweetest dogs I have ever met. Especially Kepper and Grasper!” Thorin had guffawed at him.

 

And it was true, the only way they would manage to hurt Bilbo would be if one of them squashed him and licked his face to death.

 

“Hmm, you are right. But you said he was tiny so I could make them squash him to death.”

 

“Thank you for your concern but I don’t think it will be necessary.” Had answered Thorin with a smile.

 

After that talk, everyone and their mother knew about his upcoming date. Thorin wasn’t expecting any different but still...It was a bit shameful his ten and twelve-year-old nephews kept secrets better than a thirty-seven-year-old grown-ass man.

 

The remaining days had passed slower than those before, having smirks and wolf-whistles thrown his way every time he looked at his phone may have been the main reason. And by the time Friday had arrived Thorin had been another comment too close to killing someone.

 

The day had gone pretty quickly and by seven he had the boys ready for their parents to arrive. 

 

At eight he made them a late dinner.

 

At nine he started to worry. 

 

At ten Bilbo had wished him good night and a short text telling him how excited he was for their date. 

 

By eleven he was a mess, the boys had fallen asleep watching a movie and Dís hadn’t arrived yet. She had told him they would be there by eight the latest. He had tried to call them both and neither of them had answered. Thorin didn’t want to think the worst but it was a difficult task.

 

He had been sitting on the sofa, elbows resting on his knees and his phone on his hand—already thinking about what he would do if things took a turn for the worse—when his phone rang. 

 

An unknown number. 

 

Thorin closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before answering.

 

“Yes?”

 

“ _ Thorin?! _ ”

 

“Dís? Thank God!” Thorin could finally feel his heartbeat again. “Where are you?”

 

“ _ Our flight got delayed after a thunderstorm and then Víli’s phone died and I lost mine. _ ”

 

“What? Really?”

 

“ _ Aye, today’s been so shitty Thorin, you have no idea. _ ” Thorin heard her sight. “ _ I know you had somewhere important you had to go tomorrow. I’m really sorry but we won’t be able to make it tonight. _ ”

 

Thorin already knew that but hearing it made it real and it felt like a kick in teeth.

 

He knew he shouldn’t have hoped for things to go perfect, he knew it and he still had done it.

 

He should call Bilbo, maybe he hadn’t gone to sleep yet. He liked to read before bed so maybe he was still awake. 

 

But again, perhaps not. 

 

“ _ Thorin? Are you still there? _ ”

 

Thorin sighed. “Yes, I’m still here. Don’t worry, I will look after the boys.”

 

“ _ Was it very important? The thing you had tomorrow... _ ” Thorin could hear that she felt bad for what had happened and Thorin knew it wasn’t her fault—or Víli’s for that matter—but that didn’t stop the anger and disappointment from coiling in his heart.

 

“It was a date.” Thorin finally admitted, in a sombre tone, after a short silence.

 

“ _ Oh. I-I’m so sorry Thorin _ .”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“ _ Maybe I could contact Dwalin or Balin. I know they are out of town for the weekend but maybe _ -”

 

“No. I told you it’s fine. I’ll call him to cancel.” 

 

And that was the problem wasn’t it? The last thing he wanted was to cancel his date with Bilbo but there was no other option, he had to stay with his boys.

 

Deep down Thorin had always suspected that had been another reason why all of his previous relationships had failed. He had put his family above everyone else one too many times and for that very reason his previous partners had ended up seeing Thorin’s family as their enemy and competition, instead of people that one day they could call family too.

 

From their chats, Thorin had a feeling that Bilbo was a man that cared very deeply for his family as well, so perhaps after explaining the situation he would be understanding and may agree to postpone their date. That didn’t mean that he would be happy about it.

 

Perhaps it was Thorin’s wishful thinking but he would like to believe that Bilbo was as excited for their date as Thorin was. Yes, Bilbo had said so himself but what if it wasn’t true and he was just amusing Thorin out of pity.

 

Thorin pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

 

No, Bilbo wouldn’t do that. 

 

He might have not known him for long but Thorin knew that he wasn’t that kind of person. If something was on Bilbo’s mind he would say it. He would perhaps disguise it in saccharine words but the salt was still very much there. 

 

It had been one of the main reasons Thorin liked him so much. Bilbo wasn’t fake.

 

“Dís, I will call you tomorrow. Or you call me when you are about to get on the plane.”

 

Dís didn’t answer right away and Thorin thought he heard another sigh. “ _ Okay. For the record, we're really sorry Thorin. We'll be there as soon as we can. _ ”

 

“Okay.”

 

“ _ I love you. _ ” She paused for a second. “ _ Víli says he does too. _ ”

 

Thorin chuckled humorlessly. “Love you too. Both of you. Bye Dís.”

 

“ _ Bye. Give my boys a kiss, will you? _ ”

 

“Of course.” 

 

Thorin hung up and took a deep breath. 

 

Now Bilbo.

 

It took him another good fifteen minutes to dial his number.

 

He tapped his sockless foot against the carpet and bit his lip as he heard the phone start to ring.

 

“ _ We’re sorry. You have reached a number that is disconnected or that is no longer in service. _ ”

 

Fuck.

 

What do I do now, though Thorin, tapping his phone against his lips.

 

So Bilbo’s phone was turned off or, in the unlikely case, destroyed.

 

He would just have to wait until the morning to call again.

 

All of a sudden Thorin felt the events of the day hit him. He felt drained and if his mind wasn’t filled with worry and thoughts of the worst that could happen if he couldn’t contact Bilbo before their date, he would have just headed off to sleep, but that wasn’t the case, so he got up—stretched his numb limbs and retied his hair into a half-arsed bun as he headed to the kitchen to make himself some tea to wait what would surely be a long night.

  
  


In the end, Thorin hadn’t been able to sleep until it was a little bit past three in the morning so when his phone alarm rang he was more dead than alive.

 

He blinked, bleary-eyed and with his mouth tasting as if something had crawled and died in there. Thorin groaned, already hating his day and far from ready to start it.

 

Nevertheless, he got up, he had a mouth to rinse, a face to wash—scratch that, after smelling himself perhaps a shower would be better—and a call to make.

 

After his shower, that he took hotter than the inferno, Thorin felt human again and things didn’t seem as bad as the night before—or as when he had woken up, for that matter. 

 

He could hear his nephews starting to wake up so he hurried and got dressed, not looking at what he had grabbed.

 

It wasn’t until he was in front of the foggy mirror of the bathroom that he saw what he was wearing. 

 

Kíli and Fíli had insisted he had to buy good clothes for a date and the very next day, after the match, they had gone to a store that had looked expensive and posh enough to make Thorin think one shirt might cost more than his whole jewellery shop. Despite that, they had still gone inside at Fíli’s instance, all because he had seen a very nicely dressed man—Fíli’s words, not his—go out from there.

 

After two hours they had left the shop, a good hundred pounds poorer but at least they had managed to find a good outfit for him, and a pair of sunglasses for the boys. According to Kíli, it had been their payment for helping Thorin. 

 

Thorin had only laughed at that but he couldn’t contradict him, they had really done a good job in helping him.

 

They had found a good pair of grey jeans that weren’t too tight or too loose and had exchanged his white plain t-shirt for a nice but casual navy blue shirt. 

 

Fíli had said, with his glasses propped on his nose, the scarf of one of the mannequins around his neck and a horrible french accent that the shirt fit him snug enough to make his muscles look good but not tight enough to make him fat or give the appearance of having tried “too hard”.

 

Kíli had come back from wherever he had disappeared and had brought him one of these cardigans that you could never tell if they were one colour of the other and had oversized buttons. 

 

Thorin liked those cardigans a lot but for some reason, he had never owned one before.

 

Kíli had also come with a pair of shoes but after a while, they had decided the black combat boots Thorin had at home would be enough. 

 

It had been a nice day and after their little trip, the boys had been preaching for two days that they would become fashionistas. 

 

Now, looking at himself in the mirror, things didn’t feel as nice. The Thorin that bought those clothes would have never expected things to turn so awry.

 

“Uncle! What happened? Where are mom and dad?”  

 

“They should be here already, you have your date with Bilbo today!”

 

The boys had entered his bedroom with a bang, not even bothering to knock and were now screaming in their pyjamas, clearly upset at the prospect of Thorin missing his date.

 

It brought a smile to his face, he was very lucky to have them in his life.

 

“I have to cancel it,” Thorin said, as he walked out of the bathroom.

 

“What?”

 

“No way! Why?”

 

Thorin sighed. “Your parent’s flight got delayed so they won’t be able to arrive until tomorrow at best.” He sat in the unmade bed and began drying his hair with a towel.

 

“I tried to call Bilbo last night but that stupid automated voicemail was the only answer I got.”

 

“Try again, Bilbo must have turned it off for the night.” Said Fíli and with a determined look he searched for Thorin’s phone and handed it to him. “Call him.”

 

Thorin looked at their eager faces there was only one response to that.

 

“Okay.”

 

He dialled the number and waited and for a moment he thought Bilbo would pick up.

 

“ _ We’re sorry. You have reached a number that is disconnected or that is no longer in service. _ ”

 

But it was in vain.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Maybe something happened to his phone. He told you he had been thinking about getting a new one didn’t he?” Said Kíli. They had been as invested in the messages he had been exchanging with Bilbo as Thorin himself had been.

 

“Aye, he did say that.”

 

“What if he’s already there waiting for you? It’s only fifteen minutes until the hour you agreed to meet.”

 

Thorin looked at the hour, and true enough he only had fifteen minutes to arrive. If things had gone to plan he would have left the house at least ten minutes ago.

 

“Even if he is I can’t just let you rascals all on your own. I’ve got no one to look after you.”

 

The boys stayed in silence for a while, looking disheartened until Kíli raised his head from where it had been morosely hanging moments before.

 

“We could go with you. We won’t bother you, I promise.” Said his youngest nephew with the most serious expression Thorin had ever seen on his face.

 

“Yeah, we could go with you. We can take stuff to entertain ourselves and we can sit on a different table. It will be fine!” Encouraged Fíli.

 

Thorin felt hope awake in his heart, they were right. There wasn't any reason Thorin couldn’t bring the boys with him. It wasn’t as if this would be the first time Bilbo met them. 

 

Yes, Bilbo might still be bothered by it but even if things turned sour at least Thorin would make sure that he hadn’t stood Bilbo up, that would certainly make Bilbo angry.

 

“Yeah. Yeah... That might work.” Answered Thorin, his still very fuzzy brain having a hard time to catch up. “Get dressed, we leave in ten minutes.”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Fix your hair and your beard, uncle!” Shouted Fíli over his shoulder as he ran to where was his and Kíli’s bedroom for when they stayed over at Thorin’s.

 

Thorin, still with the towel in one hand and hair dripping, brushed his cheek with his free hand, feeling his untrimmed bear scratch his palm.

 

“Shite.” He hissed, practically running to the bathroom.

 

It took a bit of cursing—that Thorin wouldn't have allowed in other circumstances—and a lot of running but by the time the clock marked their ten minutes, they were ready. 

 

The house was an absolute mess but that was a problem for future Thorin.

 

They hastily made their way to the little cafe in the main avenue, with bellies rumbling and laboured breaths, while Thorin tried to tie Kíli’s long hair into a high ponytail, he didn’t his nephew to get confused with the illegitimate son of Tarzan.

 

In less than twenty minutes they had arrived at their destiny and soon enough Thorin spotted Bilbo, anxiously looking around, most likely looking for Thorin.

 

Thorin took a deep breath and prayed to hell and heaven that things would go well. “Bilbo!”

 

Bilbo turned sharply after he heard Thorin and smiled broadly at him and seemed to be about to say something when he spotted Kíli and Fíli.

 

Bilbo looked at them, with his mouth now twisted in bafflement, and Thorin feared the worst but soon enough, to his surprise and probably his nephew’s as well, Bilbo gave them a smile, even bigger than the one he had given Thorina after he spotted him.

 

“Come on boys, let’s go.”

 

“He looks happy to see us. Why does he look happy?” Asked Kíli, expressing the puzzlement that Thorin felt.

 

“Would you like him to be angry instead? I know it’s strange but-Oh!”

 

Thorin had been looking at his right and left to cross the street but when he heard Fíli he turned at him.

 

“What?” Asked Thorin when Fíli didn’t say anything. Kíli was looking at him expectantly as well. 

 

Fíli smiled and pointed his finger to Bilbo who was now approaching them with Frodo by his side.

 

“Oh.” Was the only thing Thorin could say.

 

Thorin was confused but at the same time relieved. He thanked the hell and the heavens, he had no idea who had listened to his prayers but he was thankful nonetheless. 

 

“Frodo!” Shouted Kíli.

 

Frodo had already been pulling Bilbo along by his hand to meet them and when Kíli called him he waved his hand, clearly excited.

 

Thorin didn’t know why Frodo was there as well, Bilbo had told him he would leave him with his friends that were also his neighbours, but whatever was the reason Thorin was glad. 

 

He looked at Bilbo and his cheeky grin and for the first time since the prior night, Thorin felt like he could breathe.

 

Frodo and Bilbo waited for them on the other side of the road and his nephews practically pulled Thorin and almost got hit by a bus in their hurry to meet with their friend.

 

“Boys, be careful!”

 

“Sorry!” They said, in unison, sounding anything but that.

 

As soon as they were on the other side, Kíli and Fíli ran to Frodo and Thorin was left awkwardly standing in front of Bilbo.

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

“Hi.” Thorin said, at least that was a start. 

 

He rubbed the back of his neck. It was much easier to talk over texts... 

 

“Hi.” Said Bilbo, looking at him with a very soft and amused smile.

 

Thorin responded in kind and said, “so...things didn’t go quite as planned.”

 

“Tell me about it.” Responded Bilbo with a snort. “I wasn’t sure you would turn up.”

 

“I wasn’t either.”

 

Bilbo blinked in surprise and frowned in confusion. He seemed hurt by what Thorin had said.

 

Buggering fuck, they had just started their date and Thorin was already cocking it up.

 

“But I don’t think the reason is the same as you might be thinking.” He added hastily. 

 

“It’s not?” Said Bilbo, confused.

 

“I-I’m not sure, really.” Thorin sighed, exasperated, this was getting nowhere. “Why did you thought I wouldn’t turn up?”

 

“Because we didn’t actually confirm anything in the morning—that was all my fault by the way—and because you arrived almost twenty minutes late,” Bilbo answered him. “And perhaps my paranoiac brain may have conjured outlandish scenarios, where you called me last minute to tell me you weren’t actually interested in me.” Hesitantly added, looking everywhere but Thorin.

 

“Oh. Mine did the same, numerous times.” Admitted Thorin, relieved he hadn’t been the only one unsure of where they really stood. 

 

Because, sure, they had talked a lot over texts but it had been on the course of one week and that was hardly enough time to know someone. And, personally, Thorin thought that the interactions you had in person you couldn’t have them with just mere texts.

 

“O-Oh.” 

 

Thorin was about to finally start explaining what had happened when the sound of Bilbo’s belly rumbling interrupted him. It was so loud a couple of bypassers had turned to look at him.

 

Bilbo had a look of utter mortification and his face was flaming red. He covered his mouth and made a little sound that Thorin found far too adorable.

 

“Oh my goodness, how embarrassing.”

 

Thorin laughed and took one of Bilbo’s hand in his and rested it on top of his own stomach, making Bilbo feel the way his belly was rumbling.

 

“See? It’s okay, my own stomach has been begging me for food since I woke up.”

 

Bilbo looked at Thorin’s belly in astonishment, while it didn’t sound quite as hard as Bilbo’s it felt like an earthquake was happening inside. Bilbo chortled and took his hand, pulling him towards the cafe.

 

“We should go eat something then. We can keep talking while we eat and I’m sure the boys are hungry as well.”

 

“Aye.” Said Thorin, walking by his side and giving Bilbo’s hand a quick squeeze. It felt good to hold Bilbo’s hand.

 

They called the boys, that had gone to sit on a bench to chat in give them space, and the four of them found a nice spot outside the cafe. The seats were quite comfortable and the weather was perfect to be outside, with clear skies but not overly sunny.

 

Soon enough a waitress took their orders and everyone ordered more food that they could probably eat. 

 

“Boys, I don’t think we can eat all of this.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry Thorin, Frodo and I have very big appetites, I’m sure there won’t be any leftovers.” He turned to look at the waitress that was waiting for them to make their minds. “Thank you, my dear, we’ll have it all.”

 

“Very well, I will be back in a minute with your orders.” Said the waitress, throwing them a cheery smile.

 

“Thank you.” Said the four of them almost in unison, which only made the waitress smile harder.

 

After she was gone Thorin eyed dubiously at Frodo, the boy was quite small and didn’t have an ounce of fat in his body. He could perhaps expect Bilbo to finish a full English breakfast, five pancakes, a slice of cake, a serving of varied fruits and a tall glass of orange juice—at least that had been Frodo’s order—but he doubted the boy could eat all of that. Hell, not even Thorin could eat that much food!

 

Frodo noticed him looking and raised his head from where he was showing his nephews a magazine and smiled at him.

 

“Don’t you worry Mister Thorin, I know I don’t look like it but I actually eat a lot!” Said the small boy, patting his tummy.

 

“If you are sure.” Answered Thorin with a smile, maybe the boy could really eat that much. At least Bilbo didn’t seem worried about the child getting sick from eating all that.

 

“So what happened with your phone?” 

 

Bilbo looked up at him from where he had been making what looked like tiny paper cranes from his napkin.

 

“Oh, that.” Bilbo cleared his throat. “It broke. I broke it, well, more like drowned really.” Told him with his lips pursed. 

 

“What?” 

 

“I was getting ready for the night, that was when I wrote you for the last time,” clarified Bilbo with a wave of his hand, “and when I was washing my face I accidentally hit my phone with my elbow and it flew straight into the toilet.”

 

Thorin hissed. He had been there. The worst part was fishing the thing from inside the toilet and hoping it wasn’t broken.

 

“I tried to get it to work but it wouldn’t even turn on. Frodo heard me screaming and came to my rescue with his foam sword. Poor dear thought we were being robbed. Anyway, after that, we thought of putting it in rice but the thing was too drenched, I could hear all the water caught inside every time I shook it a bit.” Explained Bilbo to him with a disgusted grimace. 

 

“I wouldn't have minded much—I had already told you that I was thinking of buying a new one—If it weren't because I didn’t have your number saved anywhere else.” Bilbo shook his head. “After that, I put Frodo to bed and spend the next two hours trying to remember your number and talking to strangers.”

 

“Really?” Thorin was touched Bilbo had spent that much time trying to get a hold of him.

 

“Yes, and some of them were downright rude.” Said Bilbo with a glare, as if remembering the nasty things they may have told him.

 

“I gave up after I almost fell asleep while an elder lady screamed at me. The morning wasn’t any better, let me tell you.” 

 

By now Bilbo had around five paper cranes all lined up and was already working on the sixth. Thorin had passed him his napkin as well while Bilbo was talking and he had taken it, not giving any sign of noticing he had done it.

 

“You remember that I told you I would leave Frodo with the neighbours, right?”

 

“Aye, you mentioned they were also your friends.”

 

“Yes, they have been for a long time. Did I also tell you that they were expecting another baby?” Said Bilbo with a slight upward quirk to his lips.

 

“No, don’t tell me- Did she-” Exclaimed Thorin as what was insinuating Bilbo dawned on him. 

 

“She did. Just twenty minutes before I was supposed to drop Frodo off Hamfast came running to tell me Bell had gone into labour and that they were going to the hospital.” Bilbo laughed. “He was a mess and he was terribly sorry about not being able to look after Frodo.” Bilbo shook his head.

 

“That’s why I brought him with me. I had no way to contact you and even if it was to apologize I had to come. I couldn’t just stand you up.”

 

Thorin took Bilbo’s hand. “Thank you. I’m glad you brought him. I was dreading you would get angry or disappointed that I brought my nephews with me.” He admitted.

 

Bilbo clicked his tongue. “Even if nothing had gone wrong on my side I wouldn’t have gotten angry at you bringing your boys. I know that life with children is unpredictable. I would have understood. Besides, by all you have told me about them, I think that Fíli and Kíli are a delight to have around.”

 

Thorin looked at Bilbo in silence, he had truly made the right choice.

 

Fíli and Kíli, who had been clearly listening to every word, turned to Bilbo and Kíli gasped quietly. 

 

“What? Did I just said something wrong?” Asked Bilbo, confused. 

 

Frodo was looking just as confused. 

 

“You’re the first person uncle has dated that has actually wanted us around. Some of them even said we were in the way.” Confessed Fíli, quitely.

 

It still made Thorin furious to think about it. Needless is to say that those people disappeared from Thorin’s life rather quickly. 

 

Bilbo gasped in outrage. “That’s outrageous! Why would anyone not want you around?! More importantly, why would anyone say that? You are children! You have needs, of course you are going to be a present fixture in your uncle’s life. I-” Bilbo buffed as he squeezed one of his cranes into a tiny ball of crumpled paper.

 

Thorin took his hand, in hopes to calm him down.

 

“As you can see I haven't had much luck when it comes to dating. And, well, at some point I just stopped trying.” Thorin looked straight into Bilbo’s eyes. “Until I met you.”

 

That seemed to do the trick. Bilbo stopped squeezing the crane to death and blushed slightly as he gifted Thorin with a faint smile.

 

“Until you met me.”

 

“Aye.”

 

Thorin noticed when Bilbo lowered his gaze to his lips and without meaning to, he did the same, then their eyes met and all of a sudden Thorin was too hot.

 

He let go of Bilbo’s hand, feeling his face heat—most likely with a blush, his mind supplied—that was mirrored in Bilbo’s face.

 

“Oh, look. The food is coming.” Said Thorin, with his voice slightly strangled, when he saw the waitress come their way.

 

“Here you go! I’ll bring the rest in a second.” Said the waitress with a knowing smile.

 

She brought the rest of the food as fast as she said she would and for a while the only that could be heard was the sound of the cutlery and the light chatter the boys carried. 

 

Bilbo cleared his throat, a cup of tea in one hand.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Pardon?” Asked Thorin, after swallowing a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

 

“I told you why I brought Frodo. Now it’s your turn to tell me why you brought Fíli and Kíli. I remember you said their parents would arrive to pick them up yesterday.” 

 

“Ah, yes, that was the plan but their flight got cancelled and also had some problems with their phones so I couldn’t contact them. For a moment I thought the worst.” Thorin admitted the last bit quietly, quiet enough the children wouldn’t hear him. He didn’t want them to worry.

 

“Oh, Thorin. I-” Bilbo swallowed thickly. “I know what that’s like, t-the terror. The utter and crippling terror of not knowing if they are okay or not.”

 

Thorin looked at Bilbo in dismay and his gaze instantly travelled to Frodo. He knew Frodo lived with Bilbo but didn’t exactly know why was that. He looked back at Bilbo, his whole face most likely asking what his mouth was dying to.

 

Bilbo nodded at him once, with downcast eyes. 

 

Thorin took a shuddering breath. He could have never expected Bilbo or Frodo to have gone through that. They seemed so full of life and perhaps that was why. Losing someone you love changes you forever, be it for the better or the worse.

 

“I’m so sorry Bilbo.”

 

“Thank you.” Responded him, with his eyes clouded with sorrow. But he, bravely, shook himself and smiled even if it was a shaky one. “What happened next? Did you managed to contact them?”

 

“Aye, after almost two hours Dís called me from the airport to tell me they would be able to make it today. After that, I tried to call you to postpone the date but you didn’t answer either.”

 

“I’m so sorry about that.”

 

“Don’t apologize, this is by far one of the best first dates I have ever had,” Thorin admitted. 

 

Bilbo chortled. “Thank you, I’m having fun too. It’s nice being like this with you. Maybe we could go to the park that’s near here. It has a children play park that has one of these enormous pyramids made of rope that the children can climb up.” Said Bilbo excitedly, wildly gesticulating with one hand as he dabbed his mouth with the other.

 

It was in that moment that Thorin realized Bilbo and Frodo had finished their plates, leaving them cleaner than they probably were. Kíli still had one pancake left and Fíli was finishing his chocolate milk. Thorin, meanwhile, still had three sausages, a bit of scrambled eggs and half of his mug full of coffee. 

 

“I told you we would eat everything. We Bagginses have big hearts and big stomachs, at least that’s what my father says.” Said Bilbo with a smirk.

 

“I apologize for doubting you,” Thorin told him with solemn voice as he mockingly bowed his head to Bilbo and Frodo.

 

Frodo found it hilarious and laughed so hard he almost snorted the water he was drinking from his nose.

 

The Durins hurried up to finish up and Bilbo and he split the bill without much fuss. They made sure to tip generously the waitress and they headed to the park. 

 

The children were ahead of them, talking about some show they all watched and every now and then one of them would stop to reenact one of the scenes. 

 

It was nice to see them get on that well. Fíli and Kíli had no problems when it came to making friends but often had trouble maintaining them. If one of them made a new friend they would try to include their brother and sometimes the new friend wouldn’t like it or one of the brothers would end up getting jealous, so soon enough it ended up being just the two of them all over again. 

 

Thorin loved the bond they had, it reminded him of the one he and Frerin used to have before Dís was born, but Dís and he believed it would also be good for them to socialize with other children that weren’t each other. At some point, their lives would take different turns and they may not be able to cope with it, so watching them play and talk about meeting Frodo’s other friends was refreshing. 

 

They went through the park until they could spot the giant pyramid Bilbo had told them about. 

 

So far he and Bilbo hadn’t said anything after getting out from the cafe but it was a comfortable silence, one Thorin didn’t feel in any hurry to break. 

 

His hand tentatively searched for Bilbo’s and when Bilbo interlaced their hands Thorin tried to hold back a smile and failed spectacularly. He hoped it wasn’t too obvious how much it had pleased him that little gesture. 

 

Once on the park, they found an empty bench to sit and sent the boys off with a warning of being careful and not to go too far.

 

“Me neither, you know?” Said Bilbo after they had been watching the boys climb the pyramid. 

 

Thorin turned to look at him in confusion, thinking that perhaps Bilbo had been talking to him before and Thorin hadn’t heard him.

 

“What?”

 

“I have been rather unlucky with love as well. I think this may be, perhaps, the first time I have gone on a date since I adopted Frodo.”

 

“Truly?” Thorin wondered why. Bilbo was quite good looking, outside and even more so inside.

 

“Yes, and that was...Oh dear! A little bit more than five years ago. Huh, how about that. Time really flies. Until now it’s been just Frodo, me and our berk of a cat, Smaug.”

 

“What happened to them?” Asked Thorin, hoping to not have overstepped a line.

 

Bilbo instantly knew what he meant. He took a deep breath and turned his head to look at the children that were playing in the park.

 

“Prim and Drogo, Frodo’s parents,” he clarified, “were my best friends and it was often that I babysat little Frodo for them when they needed a break.” Bilbo heaved a shaky sigh. 

 

“They always came back...”

 

“Until they didn’t,” said Thorin, as softly as he dared.

 

“Yeah, until they didn’t.” 

 

Bilbo looked into the distance with vacant eyes. Thorin hated that look on him. He drew Bilbo in a hug with his right arm and Bilbo laid his head on his shoulder.

 

“I had no idea what to do. The police called in the middle of the night and they told me there had been a car accident.”

 

Bilbo sniffed. “Prim did survive, you know. But she went into a coma and after four months her body couldn’t hold up anymore.”

 

“It might sound horrible but I was relieved. The doctors told me that if she ever woke up she would most likely be paralyzed for the rest of her life or have some kind of brain damage. I didn’t want that for her, she had always been so full of life, so full of joy. I couldn't even imagine what that would do to her so when the doctors called to say her heart had stopped and they hadn’t been able to do anything I was relieved. God, I’m so selfish.” A tear rolled down Bilbo’s cheek and Thorin brushed it with his thumb.

 

“I don’t think that’s selfish. You only wanted the best for her and the life that she would have led would have been anything but that. Losing the love of your life can destroy you in irreparable ways. When my grandmother died my grandfather was just the shadow of the man he used to be, it was as if some part of him was missing. He couldn’t live with the pain so precisely two months after my grandmother’s death, he died in his sleep. I was happy. He was finally going to be with her again but that didn’t minimize my grief in any way. I cried until I had no more tears left and then some more. That’s why I think your heart was in the right place. You did nothing wrong and I’m sure Primula and Drogo are happy Frodo has a happy life by your side.” Thorin told Bilbo, kissing his temple.

 

“I think there’s some kind of dating etiquette about not discussing this kind of topics until the tenth date.” Said Bilbo with a wet laugh, eyes still misty from suppressed tears, as he hugged Thorin’s waist and rubbed his red nose against his shirt.

 

“I think there’s also an etiquette about not kissing strangers and you still did it so I think we can skip some other rules as well. I like talking to you like this, we get to know each other a little bit better every time.”

 

“Hmm, maybe you are right. I like talking to you too. It’s cathartic. It doesn’t feel like I’m taking a risk, you see. It feels like a choice.”

 

“I know what you mean.” Said Thorin, Bilbo’s hair tickling his neck.

 

“So you have a cat?” Thorin said after a long while, wanting to change the mood. He hadn’t known about that.

 

“Oh yes, and he’s an arse. I believe he fancies himself as a dragon. For some reason, he likes dogs though. We take him to the park sometimes and he likes to sit and nap on top of the ones that will allow it, so Frodo and I have been thinking for a while about adopting a puppy to mellow Smaug a little.”

 

“My friend Dwalin has a training kennel where he often adopts dogs that are about to be put down or are very young and trains them as service dogs so if you ever need any help finding the right puppy I’m sure he could help you.”

 

“That would be great! I will talk to Frodo about it, now that summer's on its way and both of us are going to be free it might be just the right time for one.”

 

“I will give you his number later, then. Mine as well, seeing as you lost it.” Said Thorin a smirk.

 

Bilbo swatted him on the chest. “It was an accident, you insufferable man!”

 

They both laughed, what had looked up to be a horrible day had turned out to be one of the best Thorin remembers having had in a long time.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last part of the story!

The day was starting to get hotter. It was little bit after noon and Thorin had had to fold up the sleeves of his shirt. Baring the beginnings of the tattoos that climbed up all the way to his back and chest.

 

Bilbo brushed one of his fingers against the silhouette of one of the ravens Thorin had inked into his skin.

 

“It must have hurt.” Said Bilbo, softly.

 

“A little. You get used to it.”

 

“Do you have more? I saw that they go all the way to your arms when we met at the football match. But I’m not sure where they end.” Asked Bilbo bashful, tracing the raven with his fingertip.

 

The sensation was so relaxing Thorin could fall asleep to it.

 

He let out a pleasured sigh. “I have more on my back and my chest.” Said Thorin, voice sounding gruff. 

 

Bilbo stopped moving his finger and looked up at Thorin. “Are you falling asleep?” Asked him, with amazement and clear delight on his voice.

 

“Maybe.” Answered Thorin, closing his eyes.

 

“Am I that boring?”

 

Thorin opened his eyes and turned to look at him, he hoped he hadn't offered Bilbo. He shouldn't have worried though, because while Bilbo was indeed trying to look offended—trying the keyword—he was failing miserably at it.

 

“Indeed. I am so sorry Bilbo but every time you open your mouth I think I might do just that. You caught me. I’m so terribly sorry to tell you this, Bilbo, but you are duller than dishwater.” Said Thorin, throwing the hand that was not wrapped around Bilbo’s shoulders in the air and shrugging his shoulders,  as if saying ‘What can I do?’

 

Bilbo gasped. 

 

“You tosser!” He shrieked at Thorin with laughter in his eyes, poking him mercilessly on the ribs, while Thorin laughed at him.

 

Thorin was about to tell him it was his own fault for having such a lovely voice when something cold hit his back and before he knew it, he and Bilbo were getting, rather quickly, drenched in water.

 

They both jumped from the bench and turned to look at what had doused them. It wasn’t rain, that was clear, there was not a single cloud on the sky and no one else appeared to be wet either.

 

They looked around the park and realized that the water sprinkles had turned on and the one he and Bilbo had had behind them seemed to be broken because unlike the others it wasn’t spinning.

 

“Shit! Who did we piss off in our past lives?” Said Bilbo shaking off the water excess he had in his hair.

 

Luckily he hadn’t been hit directly like Thorin, who now had his whole shirt sopping wet.

 

Bilbo seemed to notice as well, he looked at him and pressed his lips in a suppressed smiled.

 

“Oh my god Thorin, your shirt.”

 

Thorin only grunted, he was starting to get cold. 

 

Fucking sprinkles, at least Bilbo looked attractive with his wet hair curling tantalizingly over his nape. Thorin on the other hand probably looked like a drowned cat. 

 

He certainly felt like one.

 

Thorin untucked his shirt and began wringing it, with more force than was probably necessary, but stopped when he heard Bilbo make a strangled sound.

 

Thorin looked up to find Bilbo and a few other passersby looking at him shock. Bilbo looked quite red and wouldn’t stop looking somewhere in Thorin’s middle. He followed his gaze and that was when he realized that in his efforts of wringing the shirt, it had risen all the way up until his ribs. 

 

Showing his stomach and his embarrassingly hairy happy trail.

 

Thorin lowered his now wrinkled shirt faster than lightning, the tips of his ears burning.

 

Bilbo looked away until Thorin had tucked the shirt back in place. 

 

“Sorry.” Said Thorin with a frown. 

 

Bilbo waved his hands in front of him. “Oh no, no. It’s quite all right. I-” He hesitated for a moment, lowering his gaze and biting his lip as he nervously tugged the hairs of the back of his neck.

 

“I don’t think I have told you how good you look today. You do, you really do...” Said Bilbo at last with a bashful smile.

 

Thorin felt his heart skip a beat and he cleared his throat.

 

“Y-You too. Those colours suit you really well and I- The vest makes your eyes pop.”

 

And it was true, in his rush and anxiousness, Thorin had barely noticed what he was wearing and had solely focused on Bilbo’s face. But now that Bilbo had taken his damp cardigan Thorin would see the light blue shirt peppered with small white dots and grey vest that he was wearing. He was also wearing a pair of slightly darker trousers that complimented his figure rather well.

 

“You are stunning.” Confessed Thorin without realizing. 

 

Bilbo blushed prettily and Thorin had to stop himself from kissing one of his soft and reddened cheeks.

 

“Thank you.” Bilbo took one of his hands and blinked in surprise. “Thorin you are freezing!” He said, with a worried frown marring his face.

 

“We have to take somewhere warm, you’ll catch a chill. I have a friend in a nearby bookshop, I’m sure she will able to lend us a towel or something.” Bilbo said, walking with purpose and pulling Thorin along with him until they could finally see their nephews.

 

They were playing with other kids and didn’t seem to have noticed what had happened to Bilbo and Thorin.

 

“Boys we have to go!” Shouted Bilbo, catching the attention of their nephews.

 

They looked in their direction in surprise and said goodbye to the other children they had been playing with, before running to them.

 

“What happened?” Asked Frodo, looking at the state of their clothes.

 

“Yeah, why are you wet?” Seconded Kíli.

 

“A broken water sprinkle doused us while we were sitting on the bench, but your uncle caught the worst and now he’s very cold so we’re going to go the bookshop that’s nearby to warm up a little.”

 

“To Mrs Petunia’s?” Asked Frodo in excitement. 

 

“Yes.” Answered Bilbo with a smile.

 

“We like libraries too!” Said Fíli.

 

Thorin already knew that they would leave with another bunch of books.

 

“It’s decided then. It’s less than five minutes from here. Look, you can even see it from here.” Bilbo pointed to a little shop and true enough, in a big sign it could be read ‘Mrs Petunia’s bookshop.’

 

They walked quickly and in less than five minutes they were there. The door chimed, announcing their arrival and an elderly woman smiled them from behind the counter.

 

“Welcome, how can I-Oh! Bilbo, dear. So nice to see you.” She approached them and looked at their clothes in surprise.

“Whatever happened to you?”

 

“A water sprinkler attacked us.” Said Bilbo with a laugh. “Would you perhaps lend a towel to my...” He doubted for a second, looking at Thorin.

 

Thorin couldn’t blame them, he didn’t know what they were either. This was their first date and they had only known each other for a week. 

 

True, they were friends but Thorin hoped they were a something more as well.

 

“My Thorin...” Said Bilbo, lamely with a wave of his hand.

 

The boys giggled into their hands and Thorin smiled to himself. 

 

“Oh! Of course. I will bring you and your Thorin a couple of towels in a minute. Just go sit on one of the sofas.” Said Mrs Petunia with a knowing smile.

 

“Oh goodness. Now everyone and their mother will know that I’m dating someone. I love her but Mrs Petunia is quite the gossip.” Bemoaned Bilbo, burying his face in his hands once they were seated.

 

“Is it that bad that they know?” Asked Thorin, maybe they didn’t know Bilbo dated men.

 

Bilbo raised his head and blinked a few times. He then looked up at Thorin questioningly.

 

Oh.  

 

Thorin sent him a reassuring smile. 

 

“Perhaps not.” Said Bilbo after a while, returning his smile.

 

The boys were looking at them in confusion, not knowing that in less than three seconds things had changed greatly.

 

Mrs Petunia had come soon after that and had given them towels and an invitation to stay as long as they wanted.

 

Thorin had dried his hair as best as he could while the boys and Bilbo went to look for some books that caught their eyes. 

 

Bilbo had told him to wait there and that he would go to try to find a book that fitted his tastes and that if he guessed right Thorin would have to tell him what some of his tattoos meant, but if he failed Bilbo would show him where his own tattoos were. 

 

Thorin had looked at him open-mouthed while Bilbo threw him a cheeky smile before disappearing behind a bookshelf. 

 

And Thorin, well, Thorin had been left waiting slightly aroused.

 

Bilbo Baggins was full of surprises and Thorin was dying to uncover them all.

 

In the end, Bilbo had gotten it right. He had taken his time but at last, he had brought Thorin a book of one of his favourite authors. So Thorin had fulfilled his part of the deal and had told him about the meaning behind the ravens—his family—and more others that almost nobody knew what they stood for.

 

Bilbo in exchange had conceded after a bit of prodding and had shown him the two little flowers he had on his ankle—they were a primula and a daisy that Bilbo had gotten after one year after the car accident. He also told him he had another one on his lower back but that that one had been a drunken mistake and refused to tell Thorin what it was.

 

Thorin had all his bets that it was the word ‘soup’ in Chinese.

 

Most of the afternoon went by like that and just when they were about to gather the kids for lunch Frodo came running, with Fíli and Kíli at his heels.

 

“Look, uncle! I found your book!”

 

Bilbo and he raised their heads from where Thorin had been showing Bilbo the scars he had gotten while working as a jeweller. 

 

It was more dangerous than people thought, especially if you worked traditionally as Thorin did.

 

“Oh, that’s right! They started putting them on bookshops yesterday. I had totally forgotten.” Said Bilbo, looking at the cover of what looked like a children book.

 

“So you are a writer?” Asked Thorin, that would explain why Bilbo had such a flexible schedule to stay with Frodo.

 

“Yes? I thought I had told you about it.” Said Bilbo, confused.

 

“I would remember if you had.” Responded Thorin with a frown.

 

“What did you thought I was doing when I said I only wrote and looked after Frodo?” 

 

Thorin remembered that. “I thought you meant in your free time. I thought it was just a hobby not that you were a published writer.”

 

“Oh.” Said Bilbo. “Well, I am.” Added proudly, showing him his book.

 

Thorin thought the book looked awfully familiar but he couldn’t place where he had seen it before.

 

“So it’s true, you are Mr Periwinkle...” Said Fíli in awe.

 

“Yes, that’s me. Have you read my books?” Asked Bilbo, with excitement clear on his face.

 

“Are you kidding me? We love your books!” 

 

“Oh my god Fee, wait until we tell dad!”

 

“Your dad?” Asked Bilbo.

 

“Yeah, he was the one who read me your books when I was a baby, even before Kíli had been born. He loves them just as much as we do.”

 

“Oh my! That’s very flattering.” Said Bilbo with a hand in his chest, looking very touched by Kíli’s words.

 

“That’s why the book looked so familiar, you are the author of ‘And with a babidi boo I found you’!” Exclaimed Thorin.

 

“Yes, that’s me.” Nodded Bilbo.

 

“I used to read that book to them for a long time. I think it’s still Fíli’s favourite.”

 

“It is, I have two copies. One at uncle’s and one at home.” Said Fíli, very proud of himself.

 

Fíli had fallen in love with that book since Víli had bought it for him when he had been going through a phase of jealousy over baby Kíli.

 

The book was about a boy who longed for a sibling so much the very stars heard him and after seeing his honest heart they fulfilled his wish. But the stars had a test for him, to prove how determined he was and how deeply run the love he had for the sibling he hadn’t met yet. They had hidden his brother somewhere in the world and the boy had to be the one to find him. In the end, as almost every children book does, the story had a happy ending but it’s the way until that point that made the book so good.

 

“Right now we are hitched to Mr Mondo’s adventures though.”

 

“We thought the new one wasn’t gonna come out until next year!” Exclaimed Kíli.

 

“It wasn’t but uncle and I went to New Zealand for the holidays and he ended up finishing the book in record time.” Explained Frodo, looking proudly at Bilbo.

 

“We had a lot of fun didn’t we?” Bilbo caressed Frodo’s curls. 

 

“Mhm.”

 

The love they had for each other was very evident and Thorin was very glad that they had found happiness in each other.

 

“Can we take them, uncle? Can we?” Pleaded his nephews.

 

“Sure. Hurry up though, we are going to eat lunch after this.” Thorin had been expecting more books, so this was actually good.

 

The boys cheered as they went to search their own copies. 

 

“Did you find something you liked?” Asked Bilbo to his own nephew.

 

“Yes. This.” Frodo showed them a book about basic jewellery.

 

“Do you like jewellery, Frodo?” Asked Thorin. Kíli had already told him after the match but he had thought it was just a passing fancy.

 

“I do. My mom used to make really pretty pendants and necklaces for fun so I want to learn to make them too, but it’s really difficult. Kíli told me you are a professional jeweller. Could you, maybe, help me sometime?” Asked Frodo, biting his lip nervously, as if worried that Thorin may say no.

 

“Of course. How about during lunch? I could help you clarify a few doubts you have.”

 

Frodo threw himself at him and hugged his middle, Thorin rubbed his hair affectionately. What a sweet boy.

 

He looked up to find Bilbo looking at them with the softest of looks and a faint smile on his mouth.

 

After paying for the books and some polite yet threatening words from Mrs Petunia to treat Bilbo how he deserved they went to eat lunch to a family restaurant Thorin and the boys went often.

 

Once in there, Thorin’s attention was monopolized by Frodo while Bilbo gave his own to Kíli and Fíli.

 

It was a pleasant meal and they stayed there for almost two hours. Every once in a while Thorin and Bilbo sending smiles to each other, at some point—just after they had arrived—their feet had found each other and had remained hooked until they were about to leave.

 

Now it was late afternoon and Thorin had offered to walk Bilbo and Frodo home when the boys almost threw a tantrum about having to go on their separate ways.

 

Thorin couldn't blame them. He didn’t want that day to end either.

 

The children were walking in front of them while Thorin and Bilbo walked hand in hand in a more sedated pace.

 

“Our house it’s just turning the street. I wish it was farther than this though, I don’t want this day to end.” Bilbo tightened his hold and Thorin started rubbing circles in his knuckles. “It’s rather funny. This morning I thought this would go mediocre at best but it actually went much better than I would have ever dreamt.”

 

They were turning the street and the boys were already waiting in front of the house that Thorin assumed belonged to Bilbo. It a beautiful house, looking completely different from the rest that were beside it. It was cosy and warm, full of life, just like Bilbo and Frodo.

 

It suited them.

 

“We could have more dates like this, if you like.” Said Thorin, once they reached the house.

 

“I would love that.” Answered Bilbo. 

 

He drew near Thorin and brushed a stray lock that had escaped his bun and tucked it behind his ear to then press his soft palm against his cheek. 

 

Thorin closed his eyes at the sensation.

 

“What about next week?” 

 

Thorin opened his eyes. “Next week?”

 

“Mhm. Why don’t you and the boys come for lunch? You could also come in the morning and we could prepare it together. It’s quite fun to cook with children.”

 

Bilbo was right, even if it took double the time, cooking with his nephews and watching them have fun was worth all the dirty dishes and broken cups.

 

“I would like that and I’m sure the Fee and Kee are going to be on board as well.”

 

Thorin looked at his nephews from over Bilbo’s shoulder.

 

“Boys say bye to Frodo.” He turned back to Bilbo and picked his hand giving the palm a butterfly kiss. “We should go.” 

 

“Yeah.” Responded Bilbo.

 

Thorin took a step back, he really should leave now, otherwise he wouldn’t be responsible for his acts.

 

It was not fair. Bilbo was not making things any easier by throwing him longing looks.

 

For a moment Thorin regretted having the children there.

 

He took a deep breath and headed toward Frodo to give him a hug and watched as his nephews did the same with Bilbo.

 

“Take care okay? I will be back next week and we can practice what I told you about.”

 

“Really?” Asked Frodo, in excitement.

 

“Aye.”

 

“Thank you. I-” Frodo looked at him with determination in his eyes. “I hope things between you and uncle work. I really do. I have never seen my uncle so happy before and I really like you, you are really nice.”

 

Thorin drew the small boy into his arms again. “I hope so too, and you are really nice too.” He kissed the raven curls. “See you next week.”

 

“See you next week.” Answered Frodo with a wave.

 

“Ready?” Asked his nephews.

 

They nodded, taking each one of Thorin’s hands.

 

“Mister Bilbo, Frodo! See you next week!” Waved Fíli.

 

“Yeah, see you next week.” Said Kíli, waving as well.

 

“I will call you.” Said Bilbo with a smile and a slight wave of his hand.

 

Thorin could only nod as they turned to walk home.

 

Thorin sighed. Another time, he would do it another time.

 

They had already turned the street when he heard it.

 

“Thorin!”

 

Thorin turned just in time to see Bilbo running at him, he stopped just a few inches in front of him.

 

“You forgot something.” Said Bilbo with laboured breath.

 

“Wha-”

 

Bilbo caught him from the lapels of his shirt and gave him the sweetest kiss Thorin has ever tasted.

 

“This.” 

 

Thorin laughed and licked his lips—the boys cheering behind him. He wrapped his hands around Bilbo’s waist and pulled him flush against him, giving him another kiss, just as sweet if not slightly deeper, than the first one.

 

Bilbo pulled away first. “Now you may go.”

 

“We will see you next week.” Said Thorin giving him a last peck.

 

Bilbo waved at them and this time they did leave.

 

Just a few seconds later Fíli broke the silence. 

 

“I like him. You should marry him. Can you imagine? I would have Mr Periwinkle as my uncle!”

 

“Blimey, you are right!” Exclaimed Kíli, tugging at Thorin’s hand in excitement. “Frodo would be related to us as well! Something like a step-cousin. It would be awesome!”

 

“It’s a little too early for that, boys." Said Thorin, laughing at their antics.

 

Bilbo had been right, this didn’t feel like taking a risk, this felt like a choice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it, kudos and comments are appreciated.


End file.
